#children, #copiii, #disadvantaged, #food, #parenting, #poverty, Compassion for the ones around us, education

CHILD POVERTY

Every country has families living in poverty. With this global pandemic, I know a lot of parents have lost their jobs, and it’s really hard to find a new job.

When a child is born, they do not choose their families dependending on their social status, how many money they have in their bank account. God will take care of that child.

I know children who has to work instead of going to school, when actually only the education can save you from poverty.

Some children drop off the school to work, or they get married (early marriage). I know hundreds of girls between the age of 12 and 18 and they already have children, and a partner, they became mature before their time. In a village, is a girl and she is 13, she gave birth to her son last year, the kid has a father and they live together in a tiny room, the community, parents, family they all are aware of this situation, but they normalize it and say nothing about it. Now, how many chances has that child to go to school, and have a job? I think the child most likely will copy the parents behavior, and will take them like a role model.

When the kid will start school in that village, the teacher will give him no changes of higher education, probably will avoid going to his desk and look into his work, ask if we understood the lesson, and so on. The parents, do not have themselves education, so what happens to the child? He will fall into the poverty cycle. Believe me, I am talking the true, true cases, I have seen them with my eyes.

Poverty is all around the globe, some children have no food with days, no access to education, or a bright future.

These children needs people who cares about them, not people who cares about their pockets. Try to help a poor family, and do not judge them.

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#children, #copiii, #development, #encouragement, #parenting, education

Child development from birth to 2 years

Like I said before, all my work experience (5 years) it’s about childcare, working with teens, and social work. I love to work with children, especially to make a difference in their lives, I watch them growing and developing.

Children develop quickly in the early years, and the persons around them have to do all they can to help children have the best possible start in life.

From early on, babies produce responses – such as smiling and crying, cooing. Infants can smile and cry. Initially these are reflexes but parents typically respond as if they were intentional communications. So the infant learns the social consequences of crying and smiling.

Birth – 11 months:

  • Enjoys the company of others and seeks contact with others from birth
  • Baby can respond when talked to, for example, moves arms and legs, changes facial expressions
  • Seeks physical and emotional comfort by snuggling in to trusted adults
  • Can recognise and react to Mom’s voice for example
  • Stops and looks when hears own voice
  • Makes own sounds in response when talked to by familiar adults
  • Baby can turn head in response to sounds and sights
  • Makes movements with arms and legs which gradually become more controlled.

From 12 months to 24 months:

Between 1-2 years old, they are developing important fine motor skills and gross motor skills. Their balance, climbing, speaking and running will develop rapidly. It’s the transformation time, you will see the baby transforming from a baby to more a toddler.

1year-old will begin to try and become independent in many ways.

  • gross motor skills: Most babies take their first steps before 12 months and are walking on their own by the time they’re 14 or 15 months old.
  • Fine motor skills: By 24 months, your little one can likely drink from a cup, eat with a spoon, and help get undressed. 
  • Explores new toys and environments, but will checks in regularly with a a familiar adult as and when needed
  • Demonstrates sense of self as an individual, e.g. wants to do things independently, says ”NO” to adults.
  • Also they can have tantrums.
  • Their vocabulary will count many easy words.

Notice: Children develop at their own pace, so don’t worry if your child doesn’t do what your neighbour child does. As a parent, you know your child best.

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#children, #dad, #parenting, divorce, education, Life

How divorce affects children

Growing up with both parents is a blessing, but what is like for a child to grow up with a single parent?

When getting married you do not think it will last 1. month or 5 years but ”till death do us part”, but there are some parents who decide to break the vow sooner. There are a lot of reasons why the parents divorce. When the marriage come to an end the parents are now fighting for the custody ( well, some of them).

Which are the effects of divorce

I will say the first 6 months – 1 year is the most difficult time

The kids might suffer anxiety, distress, anger, abandoned, and can have suicidal thoughts (depends on their age).

There is a huge emotional impact on young children, they can blame themselves about the situation, or they may think that the parents are not loving them.

Children from divorced families may experience more externalising problems, such as conduct disorders, children may also experience more conflict with peers after a divorce, poor academic results.

Always tell your children the truth in regards to divorce!

I believe is better to be divorced than staying in a toxic relationship.

#children, #copiii, #devices, educatie, online, parintii, telefoane

Copilul în secolul XXI

Copilăria în secolul XXI este extrem de diferită față de toate generațiile.

Practic de la vârsta de 1 an sau cateva luni de viață, copilului i se face cunoștință cu tehnologia, pentru a nu mai plânge sau să poată mama să își facă treaba, copilului i se pune tableta, telefonul, etc în față să se uite la desene animate, să asculte muzică…am vazut cazuri, nu inventez.

Ce îi așa de rău în asta?

  • În primul rând copilul nu are nici macar 2 ani (vârsta)
  • Practic acel copil nu socializează cu nimeni
  • Relația părinte-copil are de suferit mai târziu deoarece copilul o să vrea tot mai mult acel device.
  • Nu există dezvoltare fizică

Telefoanele si copii au devenit bun prieteni în aceste vremuri, mai ales în timpul COVID-19. Da, este mult mai ușor acum având smartphone-ul la îndemână, comunicarea cu rude,prietenii din alte țări este mult mai ușoară, și rapidă. Dar, ce ne facem când comunicarea cu cei din aceeași casă a devenit none, zero, și asta din cauza telefoanelor inteligente, si a altor dispozitive.

Se face abuz de telefon sau de ceea ce poate oferii telefonul?

Dacă un copil de 8-10 ani are telefon personal, cu acces la internet, acum fiți sigur ca acel copil crede că are o comoară, pe care de cate ori o deschide îi oferă ceva interesant, nou, interzis. Am văzut copii cu telefon de ultima generație la școală, acest lucru, zic părinți că are avantaje ”pentru siguranța copilului și a părintelui”. Ok, dar ai tu acces la acel telefon, știi tu ce se întâmplă în pauză, poate copilul are facebook și de abia așteaptă pauza pentru a vorbii cu X din țara Y, ca este cool. Și cu toții știm cum oamenii răi se ascund în spatele monitorului (pedofilii, de exemplu).

Copilul după vârsta de 12 ani poate avea telefon, atâta timp cât părinții au acces total asupra activității telefonului. Verificați ce căutari au pe google, la ce se uite pe YouTube, sau daca au un cont de socializare și ce se întâmplă cu el. Am niște copii de 12-13 ani pe contul de Instagram, și văd tot feluri de postări diabolice, challenge-uri… de exemplu acum câteva zile am văzut un challenge care era postat de acest copil, și la bază avea ca 2 din prietenii lui ( băiat, fată) să meargă la o întâlnire, ca un fel de ”date” și se putea alege da sau nu, dar toți erau super încântați de idee, acum nu știu ce face o fată și un băiat de 12 ani la întalnire…dar oare părinții știu?

De asemenea tot pe Instagram, văd fete de 10-12 ani postând poze cu posteriorul la vedere, mai mult dezbracate decât îmbrăcate, interesant că părinții sunt creștini, oameni cu educație, oameni de afaceri. Unde este rușinea, stima de sine, și altele? Mie îmi este rușine și dacă mi se vede breteau de la sutien, online nu este tocmai locul ideal de a-ți arăta frumusețea corpului.

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English Devices and kids

#children, #devices, #parenting, children, Life

Devices and kids

I wanted to write about this topic for a long time, and finally here is it.

Parents are all different, their parenting styles are not the same, not even between 2 parents of the same child. Now, having a baby in the 21st century is like they were born in the same time with a well known phone, you know which one I am talking about, you most probably have it in your hand, pocket, bag…

Now let’s talk about our topic

Young brains needs a lot of external stimulation to develop, particular from birth to age 3 (critical period). In this period is better for your child to stay away from devices, keep them engaged with books, talk to them, do indoor or outdoor activities like baking or a trip to the forest. Some parents choose for their child to be in a nursery, kindergarten, in this way children stays away from phone, iPad, tablets, etc. But when kids spent the most of the time at home, some parents introduce to their kids the devices voluntary or involuntary. Now, I am not blaming anyone, there are positives and negatives in all things from this earth.

I was born in 1995, so I did not know that phone exists until I was probably 8 or 9 (2003), that’s when I had my first phone, can you imagine how proud and happy, excited I was? even though that was an old NOKIA, and the only thing I can do was to play that snake game, do you know what I am talking about?

Now, why I was happy about it, well probably because of that game or just the feeling of having that device, or that I could of call my friends, it was something new and exciting. The TV was always there in our room, so I remember watching cartoons quite a lot and sometimes I fought with my brother because he wanted a different channel. Boys and girls didn’t had the same interests, not at that time 🙂

So imagine now, after 2010, the children are amazed of devices, especially that it can offer them a lot of diversity. Of course they will fall in love with mommy’s, daddy’s phone or that tablet, iPad you leave it on the couch…

At work I see babies (15 months old) taking a toy that might look like a phone and hold it to they ears are says ”hello”, so what are we talking about, a child aged 15 months and thinks he is talking on the phone, well our children copies everything we do and say. He most probably seen Mom, dad holding that device at their ear.

INTRODUCINF CHILDREN TO ELECTRONICS

I am not against this, but we have to keep in mind 2 things – the age of the child and the time the child is exposed to the device!

If we give a 2 year old the phone, iPad in their hands or put it in front of them to watch cartoons, or to listen to music, so we can do our job… well I am against, and I will tell ypu why, first the child’s age and then you gave that child no external stimulation, no social interaction. What if we invite someone to keep an eye on our child?

If the child is 8 years old and we slowly introduce him/her to the device let them watch, discover, play songs, cartoons for not longer than 1 hour a day, why? Well, because we are in the 21st century and the technology is what we live in. The child might find interests, passion in technology an this a good opportunity to grow up with and later to be a software developer, IT manager, etc. We need people in this areas as in this world is what we feed our self with. Can you imagine life without internet, phones, computers, and other devices? In hospital, schools they need technology.

Supervise your kid activity while using the devices, make sure you do not let them have full access to things you don’t wanna the child look to. It’s so easy to have access to a lot of disturbing content these days, and always remember that online world is not always safe, there are many paedophiles behind the screen.

I have seen a lot of children on Instagram posting ”challenges” that require to meet and have a date and God knows what happens after that ”date”. And the parents has also an Instagram account to, hello do you follow your child activity? Do it now, before is too late, no offence!

My advice is to have in mind the age, purpose, health benefits, time, before introducing kids to devices!

LET KIDS BE KIDS AND THEN SLOWLY LET THEM DISCOVER THEIR PASSION, INTERESTS!

About CrinaMorpho

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#children, #dad, #encouragement, #kindness, #love

Happy father’s day!

In the USA, UK and Canada – Fathers’ Day is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday in June since being made a national holiday in 1966. In Australia and New Zealand, fathers are honoured the first Sunday in September. Other countries celebrate fathers throughout the year. For example in my country (Romania) we celebrated in May.

I wanna talk about the importance of being a DAD for the children, to be there, to be a foundation for your family.

I could not enjoy that much of my dad, I was his princess for 14 years. But I know that in the moment when dad wasn’t there It felt like a collapse.

Believe me, a dad can make a HUGE difference in his daughter life! He is the one that the girl will look up at and she will take him like a future model of her future husband. When I was about 16 I remember having a boyfriend and I used to compare his actions with my dad, the way he treated me, how my dad treat my MOM and even the appearance.

A father has an even greater influence on his children than a mother when it comes to the development of behaviour traits.

Fathers who show love to their daughters and accept them as they are help foster a positive sense of self in the female. Negligent fathers, on the other hand, can send their daughters down a dark path of depression, substance abuse, and psychological problems.

Fathers also play an important role when we talk about the financial and physical health of their daughters. Girls see their fathers as a symbol of financial stability. If the father was involved a lot in his daughter’s childhood, his daughter will be more likely to have better physical and financial health which can lead her to success.

Now, do not get me wrong, but fathers are important not just in his girl life but in the family as a whole!

Here is testimony from a anonymous person

”My father was emotionally absent, rejected me and was not the ideal father. I also watched him cheat on my mother. This article is so true because I became aggressive, angry, and did terrible in school. They got a divorce and it just caused so much depression and I’ve always felt like something was missing”.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

About CrinaMorpho

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#children

7 BEST CHILDREN’S SONGS

When comes to songs for kids we have to be so careful, listen to song yourself before letting the kid access it.

In these days there are millions of songs just to a click distance. But have you ever looked deeply into the author of that song and what the lyrics says exactly?

Here is the list of some of the songs I will accept for children to listen

1.The wheels on the bus…

2. If you are happy and you know it…

3. Old MacDonald had a farm…

4. Walking with Jesus

5. A gift to you (YouTube)

6. The butterfly song#

7. Sleeping Bunnies

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#children, #encouragement, #parenting, Compassion for the ones around us, disadvataged, education, help poor, poor children

Disadvantaged children

It can affect children from birth and left unchecked and unchallenged, can impact negatively on every aspect of a child’s life.

Usually, poor children are located in hard to reach villages, isolated, but not only. In these villages, communities people follow traditions, they copy each others even if it’s bad or good. Sometimes no one is going to these villages to make a difference, and the children grow up and have no future.

I used to live like a disadvantaged kid some years of my life, what was the reason? well, an alcoholic dad and unemployment of both of my parents. I do not condemn them, but I try to understand their actions.

There are a number of reasons why a family may be disadvantaged, and therefore, vulnerable.

  1. Unemployment
  2. Single parent
  3. Low income
  4. Substance abuse…

What are the effects on a child living in poverty?

A child may suffer from:

A poor diet or neglect

Low educational achievement: no school trips, no books, uniform packed lunch, healthy snack

Lack of positive interactions with parents

They might be unable to understand their own emotions and those of others

Poor/dirty clothes, shoes.

The child may have low self esteem

Tensions/fights between parents at home.

The child may experience some types of abuse from parents or family.

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#children, #food, #kindness, #love, #parenting, education, food, Life

Why toddlers refuse food?

At my workplace I am observing many children refusing their food, simply they do not wanna open their mouth or they are pushing away the plate. I am watching them and think how long they will resist that day without food, so we are trying to offer them options, and guess what, they are perfectly fine with plain pasta or a biscuit!

Now, we have to keep in mind that children may refuse a type of food if it’s the first time you give it to them, they need to taste it slowly and a few times to learn to like it, so make sure you are not forcing, pushing the food aggressively in the mouth, most probably they will not like it. Would you like if someone will push the spoon in your mouth, with food you never tried, let’s say…snake meat! yuck!

Also some children may like to be independent and not to be feed, so just let the plate in front of them and observe them without talking, touching their food, try to ”avoid” them. I do have a baby in the nursery that loves to be independent and eat with his own hands.

Toddlers refuse extra food also when they have eaten enough. Do not try to overfeed your toddler,some kids will eat less food than other toddlers of the same age. If your toddler is growing and developing normally then he or she is taking the right quantity of food for his or her own needs!

There is also medical reason why kids refuse to eat. When kids have a well documented medical condition or are visibly sick, it is obvious that their eating can be affected, but sometimes there are more subtle issues. Two of the biggest culprits are acid reflux and constipation. Both of these very common problems for kids can put a halt to eating.

For many “picky eaters”, sensory processing plays a big role in their refusal to eat foods. Simply put, if something feels gross in their mouth or on their hands, they aren’t going to eat it. they may not like certain textures in their mouth, or chew/lick everything else but food, it is a sign that their oral sensory system needs to be looked at.

About CrinaMorpho

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#children, #parenting, #poverty, Life

What is BREAST IRONING?

I wanna talk today about this subject as I find it really sad and violates the rights of the children (girls). That girl goes to a trauma, her self esteem is shaking badly.

BREAST IRONING – It’s a traditional practice whereby the breasts of a girl are flattered with tools like heated objects( spatulas, stones, hammers) to try to make them stop developing or disappear.

Usually happens in the villages, and it’s mostly done by the female members of the family, by an auntie, grandmother, eldest sister.

Some women whose breasts were ”ironed” have said they had trouble producing milk and breastfeeding their children.

Mothers in Cameroon thinks that by this practice girls will look less sexually attractive to men and keeping them in school for longer. (global citizen.org)

According to UNICEF, 38% of the children in Cameroon are married before they turn 18th. and 20% of them drop out of school after getting pregnant.

The practice is more common is West and Central Africa, yet has no borders, it occurs all over the world and has migrated with people and culture in the UK.

I can only imagine what is in their mind, what emotions they have, sure there is fear, pain, trauma, sadness, and so on.

It’s thought that about 1000 girls across the UK have been subjected to the practice. BREAST IRONING is child abuse!

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#children, #poverty, grace, help poor, poor children

Children without parental care

There is so much to write and say about this subject. It’s really sad to see children exposed to harm, abuse. Today we gonna focus on children without parental care.

Children without parental care are exposed to many risks, neglect, all types of abuse, and also large numbers of children end up in institutional care.

In 2008, in Central and Eastern Europe some 1.3 million children lived in public care; just under half of these lived in large-scale residential care facilities or boarding schools (UNICEF, At home or in a home, 2011). In the Middle East and Africa, over 300,000 children are estimated to live in residential care (UNICEF 2009 Progress for children).

There are many reasons why children are left without parents:

Natural death

The parents went to work abroad

They can’t afford raising them

Divorce, sickness

Abuse of drugs, alcohol

Can you think of other reasons, comment below!

Few days ago I’ve seen a documentary about children without parental care in China. They’ve estimated that over 60 million of children have no parents!

A child said ”Everyone has a Mom and Dad, but I do not, at the end of every semester when the school asks for our parents feedback, I do not have anyone to wright the comments, as my grandparents can’t write or read. I often feel envious when I see children with their parents on the street”.

Are these kids condemned to a life without parental love, harm, neglect, exploitation, sadness and so on?

I think we all should do something for them, to be there physically or by supporting the people which are ready to change a life!

About CrinaMorpho

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#children

Depresia la copii si adolescenti


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Copiii sunt cei care ne dau energie, ne fac zilele mai frumose cu zâmbetul lor molipsitor, ce facem, însă, când toate acestea dispar și sunt înlocuite cu tristețe, iritabilitate, dificultate de a se concentra, îngrijorare?

Depresia nu doar ca afectează adulții, dar poate afecta copiii și adolescenți, un lucru foarte imporrtant este să înțelegem și să fim alerți

Când aveam 14 ani am fost depresivă, pentru aproximativ un an. Schimbările din viața mea au jucat un rol puternic în a dezvolta nesuferita depresie. Începusem liceul așa că m-am mutat la oraș, părinții s-au despărțit, tata a devenit un alcoolic, am rămas fără locuință. Cu toate că aveam 2-3 oameni apropiati, nu m-am simțit ( pe atunci) destul de familiara cu ei încât să le spun despre simptomele mele.

Cum să îți dai seama dacă copilul sau adolescentul suferă de depresie?

Somnul și alimentația pot fi influențate, doarme mai puțin, petrece mult timp în pat.

Energia scade, activitățile pe care le făcea înainte, acum i se par inutile și refuză să se mai întâlnească cu prietenii.

Refuză să meargă la școală, performanțele școlare scad

Stima de sine scăzută

Copiii mai mari si adolescentii, pot avea comportamente problematice, intra in dificultati la scoala, sunt negativi, morocanosi, irascibili, iritabili, se simt neintelesi.

Uneori este dificil pentru părinți să identifice semnele depresiei, dar fiți atenți la ce vă transmite copilul, depresia nu este ceva ce se desfășoară pe 4-7 zile ci poate ține și 1 an. Discutați cu copilul, și găsiți ajutorul medical potrivit. Este așa de important pentru copii să aibă pe cineva de incredere, de partea lor, să-i iubească necondiționat și să le ofere tot ce este mai bun.

Depression in children and teenagers

Here is the English version